this is beautiful. I sent it to everyone I know, especially my sons (former Marine, active Marine) thank you so much for posting this.
I read this outloud and couldn't finish without my voice breaking. My memories of Christmas in VietNam rushed back to me. My favorite memory was my mother had Christmas wrapped a bunch of individual tasty cans and jars of foods in a box with a little Christmas tree and I placed it on the sand bags for all of us to share. Such a little thing meant a lot on that night. I still like a Warm Christmas.
All the Best from California.